#tessa tries to meme

[overnightheartbeats]

♡ - Diego :))

send me a ♡ for my muse asking yours to be their valentine // @cursivebloodlines

He had gotten the hints. Diego had received a few videos since the month started, all seemed to have the same message. You need to ask someone to be their valentine. Was Tessa trying to hint at something? This confused him a bit, wasn't that the whole point of the day? According to his brother's wife, nope. Yes, he consulted the family for this. His brother had tried explaining, but to no avail. According to the mini-lesson on the holiday, asking early was key. Someone else could beat you to it if you wait until the day of. That made sense. Or did it? Maybe he misunderstood the whole thing. Whichever it was, Diego wouldn't risk it.

That was why he had spent the last few hours baking. He was trying to make a batch of red velvet cookies, a treat to include in his gift. Baking for others wasn't really his thing. He had grown up baking with his mom, and over time, it became an activity to relieve stress. Just not something he'd share with others before, so Diego wasn't sure if this would be a good surprise. Frankly, he had not given Valentine's Day so much thought since he was a kid...giving out valentine's cards to his classmates. His kitchen was a mess; baking pans everywhere, loose flower petals and cut stems on the floor - his loose attempt to build her a bouquet. Diego would need to come back and clean this up, but that was for him to worry about later. He packed the nicest cookies in a container, grabbed the bouquet, and an alien plush he ordered online a few days ago.

Diego stood at her doorstep, waiting for her to come to the door. He had texted her before leaving, but he knew Tessa probably got distracted. It's why he texted when he was leaving, when he was arriving, and then one more text to announce he was waiting outside. "Finally! I was beginning to wonder if I should kick the door down," he teased, a wide grin on his face. As soon as he saw her, he couldn't contain the smile. The nerves were still there, but her presence kept most at bay. Instant comfort courtesy of Tessa. "I hope I got the right hint...otherwise this may get a bit awkward. Ms. Locke, will you be my valentine?

[incorrectly-quoting-murderdrones]

Looking back on the entire show after watching the finale makes me realize just the insane amount of detail and foreshadowing present.

Whenever N’s memory gets brought up, it’s usually paired with him being beheaded

Ep 1: Gets his head blasted off by Uzi and loses 2 hours of memory

Ep 3: Brings up his memory to V who slices his head off

Ep 5: The episode is all about N’s memories and we briefly see his worker drone body missing it’s head when they get to the basement

Ep 8: The Solver rips N’s head off, and after regrowing it, he recalls another memory of the Solver tearing him apart as a worker

The constant emphasis on hands in the show

The disassembly drones having swappable hands

Uzi gets stabbed in the hand in episode one

The Solver and eldritch J with the weird human hand tentacles

The fact that characters are constantly losing hands and arms

V’s weird monster arm from the flashback

The handlights indicating whether a drone is possessed

The constant close ups of whenever N and Uzi hold hands

The secret handshake

Uzi’s hand burning in ep4 and her hand burning as she destroys Cyn’s heart in ep8

The Solver using Tessa’s hand and fingerprint to get past a Captcha Test

The solver powers revolving around hand movement

The hands on Uzi’s wings

Doll’s knife going through Uzi’s hand

Alice chopping Uzi’s finger off

N chopping Uzi’s hand off to save her

There’s more here, and it happens in the other Glitch shows too. For example, Pomni’s glitched hand, the Meta Runner arms being the main catalyst for the conflict in MR, and meme guardians holding hands for power in SMG4

The constant foreshadowing for CynTessa and the little details that make so much more sense in hindsight

Episodes 6 and 7 we see N, V, and J’s yellow eyes reflected in Tessa’s helmet

The creepy apparition of CynTessa in Ep4

Cyn and Tessa having the exact same haircut

The whole entire scene with Tessa and the sentinels

Without the context of ep7, that scene plays out like Uzi’s stress at seeing N get attacked by the Sentinels causes her to be briefly possessed by Solver in order to override the controls

Looking back at it, however, the Solver only fully possessed Uzi when Tessa got bitten by the sentinel. It was trying to save itself not N.

It literally saved itself and disguised the attempt as Uzi trying to protect N. If that’s not a perfect metaphor for who and what the Absolute Solver is, idk what is.

And it did it again at the end of the episode where it yet again it possessed Uzi to get the door open right when the sentinel charged at Tessa.

The Sentinel briefly shutting down and getting confused at what it thought was human blood, and then a few scenes later it comes back and guns directly for Tessa, with her blood no longer working to distract it.

Tessa and Cyn’s matching fondness for N in particular.

Tessa outright beheading a drone in her first introduction which contradicts her character in ep5

Then there’s the Solver/Cyn’s almost stalker-like obsession with N

N being the only DD to not feel pain. J and V grunt and yell when they get stabbed or lose a limb, but N gets ripped apart and doesn’t even blink

Cyn calling N “big brother” which the Solver does as well. V and J are never once called “big sister”.

N being the only DD to have lost his memories, possibly so the Solver could control him better. N is a sweetheart by nature and by continuing to override his memories every time he tries to protect the Workers, the Solver can keep him bloodthirsty and feral.

The weird hologram of Maid V that the Solver used to taunt him

The Cyn hologram hugging him

The Solver purposely exploiting N’s feelings for Uzi to keep him from fully attacking her while she’s possessed.

The whole puppy dog eyes thing

“Your backups will forgive me” and the fact that she has backups of N even before the mansion massacre.

The Solver N, V, and J retain their personalities only because it liked N’s in particular

The fact that it sent the nicest, kindest drone in the entire show to slaughter its own kind

The low, annoyed “Hello Uzi” followed by the high pitched, upbeat “Hi N :D”

How the Solver plays around with Tessa’s corpse and her affection for N

Again with how it plays with N’s relationship with Uzi by using Tessa’s voice to tell him that he has to kill Uzi to save the universe

The Solver using a hologram of N to fuck with Uzi twice

The Solver using the hologram of N to fool V into calling out for him so it could lure the real N out

The Solver’s obsession with N technically never going away. With Cyn as the main host it was a sibling bond, but with Uzi now the main host it’ll likely latch onto her romantic love for N

The absolute insane foreshadowing to Uzi becoming the Solver itself

The occasional reflection of N and V’s yellow eyes in Uzi’s visor

Uzi overwriting Cyn’s admin control and replacing it with her own

Uzi possessing the Solver cameras while in N’s memories, and the cameras having purple eyes

The protagonist’s journey graph in presentation in the very first episode alluding to a big fight and monstrous transformation at the end.

Uzi overpowering CynTessa with her own Solver

Uzi breaking through possession via the powers of angst and teenage rebellion, without even needing the patch like Nori and Yeva

Uzi and Tessa having the same fleshy bat wings

Uzi’s core number being 1001 just like Cyn’s

Uzi’s tail chewing on N’s head for some reason in episode 6, likely foreshadowing to Cyn being in her tail

Uzi possessing Braiden just like the Solver would

Other little details

Uzi’s purple being a perfect complement to N’s yellow which also matches their personalities

The background posters having just the stupidest/funniest notes on them

Uzi’s tail looking like a sentinel head

Lizzy having seemingly infinite phones

The drones treating the school bus like it’s an animal with sentience

Braiden’s head literally always being on fire, even in death

The references to Until Dawn and Friday the Thirteenth in episode 4

The soundtracks having just the stupidest fucking titles (affectionate), with some of them even referencing each other.

N going from being J’s doormat in episode 1 to outright beheading Tessa in episode 7 when he realized she lied to him

The Solver making its biggest mistake asking N to choose “the universe over the life of one little drone” because it didn’t account for the “one little drone” being Cyn, not Uzi

The Protagonist’s Journey chart foreshadowing Nori being alive with the “help from an unexpected source” close to the end of the timeline

Khan going from leaving Uzi for dead to rebuilding her rail gun and directly attacking the Solver in the hopes of saving her

Also Khan’s behavior and bad parenting suddenly making a lot more sense once we finally see a full photo of Nori and realize that Uzi is damn near identical to her mother.

Uzi’s teeth aren’t sharp until after her transformation in ep4

In a roundabout way, the humans on Copper-9 were successful is making something that could stop the Solver, as they caused the incidents that would eventually lead to Nori meeting Khan and passing down her genetics to Uzi

[dragons-hoard-of-fandoms]

(Murder Drones Episode 7 spoilers!)

THEY CHANGED THE INTRO V IS OFFICIALLY DEAD FUNERAL'S ON THURSDAY

Cult. It's a cult. This is definitely a cult. They probably don't even realize it but it is undeniably some kind of cult.

Nori what are you doing. Nori why are you like this.

The cross is a USB??

They're keeping the Drones themselves in the lockers??

Of course the unpaid intern whose opinion doesn't matter is the only one with any sympathy for them.

Pink Solver core?? SOLVER LIZZY?!?

Ah great, the Envy shippers are gonna be using this as "proof" that he's still in love with V.

HE IMMEDIATELY APOLOGIZED HE LOVES HER SO MUCH

Tessa. Stop. I was willing to give you the benefit of a doubt but you're not doing yourself any favours.

And now she's being racist. Way to go.

"The power of a black hole in the palm of my hand."

SEE TESSA ALL YOU DID WAS MAKE EVERYTHING WORSE

THEY'RE BACK THAD AND LIZZY ARE FINALLY RELEVANT AGAIN

Did they change Thad's VA? He sounds different.

Was that V? Is she already back?

N BABY NO DON'T SAY THAT YOU DON'T DESERVE THIS

Eldritch V??

I can't wait for people to meme about his perfectly cut scream there.

Not going near the corpse. Smart move.

Cyn stop. Cyn stop. CYN STOP PLEASE I'M BEGGING I WANT YOU TO BE SYMPATHETIC

She hugged him. That's probably a good thing, right? That's probably proof that the real Cyn is still in there somewhere, right? THAT PROBABLY MEANS SHE MISSES HIM AND IS GENUINELY SORRY RIGHT

Nothin' like a good old-fashioned Robot Uprising Apocalypse, eh? In other news, Skynet is suing the Solver for copyright infringement.

Those admin privileges comin' in handy. Unfortunately they don't do much in the physical world.

Uzi has absolutely no reason to be crawling and scuttling around like a creature right now except for the simple fact that she wants to. Never change, little gremlin.

Oh I don't think you should watch that. N was right, y'know, there's probably stuff down here you don't wanna see.

Why does this remind me of the garbage maze in FNaF Security Breach?

Okay so it's not some kind of disembodied Solver Lizzy core. Don't blame me, the lights looked pink before and the cat ears headphones reminded me of Lizzy's bow.

Familiar?? Nori??? DID N ACTUALLY KILL YOU AND WHY AREN'T YOU BRITISH/MOMMY LONG LEGS

Khan? A hunk? In the words of Professor Membrane, NOT SCIENTIFICALLY POSSIBLE!!!

"How do you know my daughter?" "Well y'see, it all started when we tried to kill each other..."

Oh it was J. Is it bad to say I'm kind of relieved?

Are we getting the cool edgy Khan from the concept art??? Bro why are you so nonchalant about it being the end of the world.

INB4 people go frame-by-frame through the list looking for the most Russian-sounding name and say "THERE, THAT'S DOLL'S DAD"

Tessa was that really necessary? You're giving really bad vibes right now.

Patch? So the Solver can be removed? And she knows? Again, major bad vibes.

*FNaF 2 Foxy jumpscare*

I'm starting to suspect Yeva either can't or chooses not to talk.

Is she saying the Solver wiped her memory of the labs? I guess that would explain a few things.

N being so polite and cute as always.

What do you mean, "found its way back?" Where did it go? Is the timeline completely wrong? Did it start on Copper-9 then go to Earth then return to Copper-9? I'm so confused.

Nori why are you so casual about the prospect of your own daughter being a planet-eating eldritch abomination. This is exactly why I'm worried about the fandom giving you the Rose Quartz treatment.

I told you not to watch it, Uzi.

Welp, so much for Doll. Consider this karma for killing V. But "fight back?" Does that mean it can be resisted?

So now we know where Uzi gets it from.

Tessa no. Tessa stop. Tessa STOP. TESSA STOP YOU'RE NOT EVEN TRYING TO PRETEND TO HELP ANYMORE

YEAH N SAVE YOUR GIRLFRIEND

Whoa, didn't see that coming. No face reveal?? Does that mean she really is a Drone???

WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET THEM BE HAPPY

Imagine meeting your daughter for the first time and she's currently being possessed by an eldritch abomination masquerading as her boyfriend's dead sister.

Every time I think this episode's about to end on a cliffhanger it doesn't.

EVEN WHEN SHE'S BEING POSSESSED BY AN ELDRITCH ABOMINATION MASQUERADING AS HIS DEAD SISTER HE WOULD RATHER DIE THAN LET HER BE HURT AND IT WAS ENOUGH TO SNAP HER OUT OF IT FOR LIKE HALF A SECOND HOW COULD ANYBODY SAY THEY'RE NOT IN LOVE

Oh no, now people are gonna write fics about Nori being vored by her own daughter.

"Hang out" is code for "date." "Hang out" is code for "boyfriend and girlfriend." "Hang out" is code for "madly in love with each other." "HANG OUT" IS CODE FOR "WE MAKE SWEET AND PASSIONATE LOVE TOGETHER EVERY SINGLE NIGHT WE'RE ALREADY PLANNING THE WEDDING AND I'M GONNA WEAR THE DRESS AND WE'RE GONNA NAME OUR KIDS GLOCK AND BAYONET"

Literally smacked the sense back into her.

Imagine meeting your mom for the first time and you don't know who she is and she's a gross little fleshy crab-spider-thing similar to what your boyfriend's jerk boss turned into so you punt her into a bottomless pit and she makes a dodgeball noise.

LOOK AT HER REACTION SHE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT "HANG OUT" IS CODE FOR SHE JUST DIDN'T REALIZE HE THOUGHT OF IT THAT WAY TOO

My last two brain cells while watching this episode. Now would be a really good time for you two to kiss.

Oh good gosh she's not dead. Okay it wasn't at all necessary to put your head on backwards.

CYN IS HUMAN NOW??? OR IS SHE WEARING TESSA'S BODY LIKE ENNARD DID WITH MICHAEL

NO JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE ALREADY

Sorry J but you're still not plot relevant yet, you're not allowed to participate.

J: *sees the railgun* *has war flashbacks*

UZI YOU CAN'T SACRIFICE YOURSELF RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM AND TELL HIM TO "DIE MAD" AS YOUR LAST WORDS THAT IS LITERALLY NOT OKAY

*Uzi falls* *screen fades to white* *UNDERTALE*

The Void???

Glitch I beg of you please don't make us wait another half a year for the next episode. And Liam please don't let it end after one season.

[c-animates]

Some Solving Time Stuff:

Since it's been over 170 days since last episode,here's some Solving Time AU painful bits! Enjoy:

After going though 5 timelines,N decided to start drawing his past loops to both not forget about them in case the solver does something to him during the run and to remind himself of how much he failed his loved ones over and over again. N also has to hear the solver taunting him every time he tries to do something. Just hearing this asshole eldritch being mocking him over and over,making jabs at him with V's death or how he failed Uzi and Tessa.

With the solver mocking him with CYN's voice and him constantly trying to find a way to save everyone and destroy the solver,he is more anxious and irritable than before. Barely holding on until something causes him to break down mentally and emotionally.

No happiness for this Cinnamon roll in this AU! :]

Also some bonus memes!: N: Please god! Just let me have one good day! Solver: Oh my god,you again? Give it a rest buddy. ---------- [In N's mind] CYN: Solver,stop! Solver! Stop! Stop tormenting my brother! Solver to N: Fat Bitch. ---------- :] Pain is delicious!

[broadstbroskis]

choosing you | william nylander

a/n: rolling in late (as usual) for @antoineroussel winter fic exchange! demi, thank you for running such a wonderful fic exchange, as always! you are an angel among us for organizing this!

i had the absolute pleasure of writing for @nylwnder. i was so so SO excited to write this for you darling! i hope you enjoy!

-----

“I’m going to be alone forever!” 

Nobody even turns to look when Will throws himself in the booth. At one end, Auston and Morgan are talking about their plans for the Raptors game this weekend while Tessa tries to shove her way to Morgan’s other side to join a more interesting conversation. 

Jordan and Mikey and Marissa and Alex are next to them, comparing cute stories about their dogs. Occasionally, they’ll catch Mitch’s attention and he’ll sneak a peek at whatever picture or video has been pulled up and then throw a comment in about how Zeus is the best dog ever, before jumping right back into the debate that he’s having with you, Steph, Justin, and Audrey about which would win in a fight, a gorilla or a grizzly bear. 

“I don’t know how you don’t choose bear!” Justin repeats, even as Audrey is shaking her head at him.

“Hello?” Will whines, leaning against you. “ Did anyone hear me?”

“Being overdramatic?” You pat your hand against his, kind of patronizingly, but this type of behavior from Will isn’t really anything new. “We heard. We just don’t believe it.” You pivot right back into the debate. “Let that gorilla take a swing at ya, buddy. That’s how you don’t choose bear.”

“Thank you!” Audrey cries.

“I got people 6ft tall coming at me everyday! Bring it!” Justin throws his hands up in a challenge.

“You’re both crazy!” Steph looks at you and Audrey and shakes her head.

“People survive bear attacks!” You argue.

Mitch nods. “Gorillas are fucking savage!”

“Oh you know this from all your personal experience hanging out with gorillas?” Steph asks.

“How-how did we get here?” Will frowns, still draped over you and begging for attention.

“Well we somehow started with whether you’d rather fight the one horse sized duck or one hundred duck sized horses.” Justin explains. “But obviously, that’s-”

“-the horse sized duck.” You all chime in together.

“Oh, of course.” Will says, like your obvious conclusion was the one everyone would have reached (it should be).

“And it spiraled from there.” Audrey says.

“I, too, am spiraling.” Will tells her and she immediately fights back a laugh. “Because I’m going to die alone.”

“I guess we have to do this, then?” Justin sighs. 

“You are the married couple who’s supposed to like, have your shit together and offer good advice.” Mitch says.

“Hold up, we did not sign up for that!” Audrey says, as you and Steph laugh. “We’re like, the fun older siblings that you still get in trouble with. John and Aryne are your stable adults.”

“Can we get back to me?” Will jumps in quickly, probably worried that’s about to start another tangent.

“What’s to get back to?” You ask him. “Break ups suck. Get yourself a drink, and then a lot more, and you’ll feel worse in the morning at first, but then a little better.”

Audrey laughs at what’s become your time honored method for getting over breakups. “It just takes time, babe.” She tells him, which just makes Will look murderous. “You’ll find the right girl eventually.”

“I saw a meme the other day that everyone meets their soulmate by the time they’re like 22.” Alex turns and adds in. “So maybe you already have.”

“That was a meme?” Marissa frowns at him.

“Well nah, the meme was about like, not wanting to dive down that hole again or something.” Marissa gives Alex another look that has you all laughing. “It was funnier when you saw it, okay!” Alex protests.

“Mhmm.” She says, entirely unimpressed and Alex pulls his phone back from Mikey to start scrolling through instagram for it. 

“Finally, something helpful.” Will says, finally pulling back from you.

“What?” You ask, looking over to him, sure you heard him wrong. “What’d you just say?”

“That’s it. I’m going to go back and date all the girls I’ve already dated.”

“What?” You repeat, sure that your face is doing...something.

“That’s what Kerf just said!”

“I don’t-I don’t think that’s what he said at all.” Steph says, looking around her, like she’s waiting for confirmation from the rest of you.

“How did you get that from what he just said?” Justin asks. 

Will doesn’t even look phased at either of those comments, barreling on. “It’s genius. I’ve already found the right girl. I just have to figure out which girl I’ve dated is the right girl.”

Audrey bites her lip to fight back a laugh, but when she speaks, she’s looking directly at you. “Maybe the right girl is closer than you think.”

You send a glare at her across the table, but thankfully, Will seems too focused on figuring out what he wants to drink to try and figure out any cryptic clues she might have been trying to drop to him.

-----

“Audrey was right!” He announces to you the next afternoon, when he lets himself in your apartment after practice.

“About what?” You frown, barely looking up from your laptop and the spreadsheet you’re trying to fix.

“The right girl being closer than I think!”

Your heart stops and your head flies up. Will’s grinning back at you. He looks soft and rumpled after practice, arriving to your place in sweats and a hat, wearing his glasses, and looking like he’s ready to crash on your couch and stay there (you’d let him- you’d let him do that and more, ugh these feelings were the worst), but this? Him coming here and saying this so suddenly? It’s-

“I just ran into Jess at Starbucks!”

You close your mouth. Of course, it wasn’t you. Of course Jess was the first of the girls to re-return, and that he managed to casually run into her no less. 

“That’s awesome!” You manage. “Did you-did you grab coffee with her?”

He nods, then moves his hand back and forth. “Well, kinda. For a few minutes. She had to run to a meeting. But we’re going out later this week for real.”

It’s kind of nice to still be able to duck into your laptop and pretend the reason for the lack of smile on your face is because of work, not Will’s tall, beautiful, smart, could-be-a-supermodel ex-girlfriend. “That’s great.” You tell him and he smiles back at you, before going to make himself comfy on your couch until you’re ready to do something for dinner-a routine that’s as old as your friendship since he came to Toronto. 

It’s begun. You text Steph and Audrey.

Please live text us this disaster. Steph texts back and Audrey immediately follows it with a flaming dumpster gif. 

Jess. Is all you send back and they simultaneously text back a string of gasping emojis, which is pretty much on par for how you think this is going to go.

-----

Will throws himself on your couch dramatically hours after his date with Jess, which would be funny if you couldn’t tell he was upset. 

“What happened?” You ask, fighting back a smile. It’s not that you wanted him to have a bad time. It’s just… you’ve seen this film before. You can guess the ending.

“I don’t know.” He sighs. “It started off fine, I thought, and then she started saying how happy she was that I finally realized I was better than the rest of my friends, and that we could make this work now because of that.”

“Hm.” You say noncommittally, because none of what’s coming out of his mouth from Jess is a surprise.

He sits up at that, looking at you, kind of shocked and kind of mad, and that does surprise you. “You knew?”

“Will!” You shake your head. “Everyone knew. She didn’t make it much of a secret how much she disliked us.”

His jaw drops. “Was I the only one who didn’t know?” You nod. “And you all didn’t tell me?”

You shrug. “Well. We really didn’t think she’d last as long as she did.”

“That’s not really an excuse.” He frowns.

“You’re right,” You acknowledge, because it’s true and you and Steph and Mitch and Auston had all talked about it since. “But it took us a while to realize how different she was around you and us and by the time we did…” You trail off. “You guys had broken up. We didn’t think it’d be an issue again. We never held back after that.”

“Oh you certainly didn’t.” Will mutters, and you know he’s thinking about Abigail and everything that had been said when he’d brought her to meet you all for the first time.

“We’ve found our center!” You cry. “We’re better now!”

Will lies back down, resting his head against your leg and your hand goes to rest in his hair. Will loves having his hair played with and this is the least you can do for him. “You tell yourselves that.”

You brush some hair back from his face, smiling at how content he looks with his eyes closed and the small smile on his face. “I don’t have to, the group chat will do it for me.”

One of his eyes pops open. “There’s a group chat?”

You scratch your nails through his hair, which is probably dirty pool, because he loves that. “Shh, don’t worry about it.”

-----

Steph invites you and Audrey over for a bridal party planning session one evening and Mitch is absolutely gleeful when you walk in the door. 

“Do you know, did you hear?”

“Ugh.” Is all you have to say, reaching for the wine Steph’s already pouring you.

“Come on, man, read the room.” Audrey lectures.

“You do!” He cries, ignoring her completely. “Come on, tell me.”

“I’ve been sworn to secrecy.” You tell him, enjoying the look on his face at that.

He scowls. “We’ve been trying to get it out of him all week. He won’t say shit.” You cackle and he flips you off, grinning as he makes his goodbyes, off to Auston’s with Zeus for the dogs to have a “brodate.”

“Can you really not say?” Audrey whispers, once he’s left, as if that’s not just something you’d said to fuck with Mitch.

You nod. “It’s Alex.”

“Shut up!” Steph cries immediately. 

You raise your eyebrows as you take a sip of wine.

“Is he there now?” Audrey asks. “Like with her? Or at hers?”

You nod.

“Why didn’t we turn this into a reality show?” Audrey wonders aloud. “Forget Leaf to Leaf, the production team has a better purpose this year.”

You crack up, promising to keep them posted when you hear from Will, and with that Steph pulls a book of color samples out.

-----

“Is it me?” Will stares at you expectantly, watching you make yourself coffee the next morning, so you pour a second mug and pass it over to him.

“No.” You assure him. “Well, maybe.” He glares at you. “But really only in this case.”

He huffs. “Why didn’t this one work then?”

You burst into laughter. “Because she’s basically your brother!”

The sight he makes at that- frozen, with his mug halfway to his mouth, jaw dropped just a little- is incredible. It’s so rare that moments like that happen and you have a camera ready to capture them.

Luckily for you, you’ve got your phone in hand already and somehow, have the wherewithal to drop into the camera app and snap a picture.

“Delete that!” He says immediately.

“Never.” You stick your tongue out at him, already texting it to your group with Steph and Audrey. Caption this. 

No thoughts head empty. Steph comes back immediately. 

Audrey’s just as quick. When you can’t remember if you turned the straightener off before you left home.

SO close. You send back, even as Will tries to steal the phone from you. But it’s actually “when your best friend had to be the one to tell you that your ex and your brother are the same person down to their NAME”

Will’s stopped trying to make a play for your phone by the time you get a response back (Steph’s laugh and Audrey, queen of the gif as usual) but he’s looking at you like he’s thinking. “You-you-”

“Yes?” You ask patiently, sipping your coffee.

But there’s not a lot to say on that, you think. Even when Will and Alex had first broken up, he hadn’t been able to give you all much of a reason why at the time, just that for all they had really gotten along in so many ways, something had just seemed off about it-and she had agreed, he’d said- so they’d mutually parted ways. The parallels between her and his brother had been obvious, you thought, and you know it wasn’t just you who saw them.

“You just ruined that whole relationship.” Will says.

Apparently not obvious to Will, though.

“You were already broken up!” You protest.

“No, you ruined my memory of it.” He says with a completely straight face, which he somehow manages to keep for another minute before you realize that he’s fucking with you entirely. 

-----

Brooke arrives back into Will’s life the same way she left it last time- in a whirlwind of drama.

“She did what!” Audrey gasps and you turn the volume down quickly, eyes scanning over the waiting room around you.

“She hit him with her car!” You repeat, looking down at the FaceTime call. “I’m literally at the hospital now, waiting to hear from the doctor.”

“Jesus Christ.” Audrey’s shaking her head in disbelief. “That boy.”

“I mean,” You defend, the need to stick up for Will bubbling up inside you. “It’s not, like, his fault.”

“Not at all, but you’ve got to admit, he does get himself into some wild situations.” She hums. “Auston’s dated some real winners but even he’s never been hit by a car.”

“I-“ You don’t have much of a response to that. “He didn’t get like hit by her car; she just clipped him.”

She gives you a flat look. “That’s what you’re going with?”

“There’s the doctor.” You say lamely, and even though it’s not a lie, you can tell she can see right through you and that you’re thankful for the excuse by the knowing look on her face. “Gotta go.”

“Mmm.” She gives you another look. “Alright babe, you go make sure Will’s okay. I’ll be ready for you with the wine later.”

A nurse brings you back, smiling and chatting politely with you until you reach the area that Will’s been waiting in for a few more tests. At first, you think the bay is empty, but then you realize there are actually two people in the room.

That they’re just sitting that close.

Brooke’s hands are laced with Will’s and there are tracks of mascara running down her face. She doesn’t acknowledge you at all, even as you check in with Will and how he’s feeling, as the doctor gives him a clean bill of health and tells him to follow up with the team doctors tomorrow.

“You ready to go?” You ask Will, and somehow, someway, you already know what’s going to happen next, before Brooke even speaks.

“Actually, Will and I are going to go grab lunch.” She says smoothly. 

Your face freezes, hopefully in somewhat of a smile, but you couldn’t say at all what it was actually doing. Will untangles one hand from Brooke’s to squeeze your shoulder gently, reassuringly, as he passes, and he gives you a smile. “I’ll come see you tomorrow.” He promises, as she pulls him out of the room before you’ve even realized what’s happened.

Definitely going to need that wine. You send Audrey once you manage to collect some thoughts and realize that you’re left alone in an emergency room that wasn’t even for you.

That bad?? You can practically hear the shock in her voice.

Arguably worse. You send back.

Man. She sends. There is something about Brooke.

You don’t respond to that. There’s just something about Brooke, is right 

-----

When it’s been about a week since you’ve seen Will in person, you text him. 

Everything okay?

Everything is great! Why? Wait are you okay? He sends back right away.

Just haven’t seen you in a while! I’m good!

He likes that message and even though he’s sure to text you more frequently after that, you still don’t actually get to see him.

You end up on Audrey Holl’s couch one day when the boys are away, head in Steph’s lap as she openly laughs at you.

“You’re a mess.” Audrey says.

“That’s not news!” You pout at her. “Can you tell me how to get my best friend back, please?”

“Have you just...asked him?” Steph asks. “You sound a lot like Will right now.”

“You take that back!” You poke her leg. She’s sitting far too close to you to be saying things like that.

Steph and Audrey both laugh at that though, but it’s Steph that replies. “Again. Have you asked him to hang out with you recently?”

Your silence answers that.

“Maybe,” Audrey pours another serving of wine in your glass. “You start there.”

They only laugh at you for another few minutes before helping you draft a text to Will, asking if he’s free to hang out when he gets back from his road trip. 

It doesn’t take Will long to respond at all, confirming plans with you the day after they get back, and you settle into girls’ day feeling better than you have since Brooke came back into your lives.

-----

“I’m sorry!” Will hastens to say, but he’s balancing two coffees in hand as he kicks your door shut behind him, so you’re inclined to forgive his lateness. “My-well, it was a whole thing.”

“I was going to give you five more minutes before I sent out a search party.” You laugh, accepting the cup he offers. “Is everything okay?”

He nods. “Yeah.” Then he sighs. “I’m just happy to be here, I’ll say that.”

“Me too.” You blurt out, before you can stop yourself. “I’ve missed you!”

Will just grins. “Me too.” He says, as his phone buzzes. He looks at it, makes a face, and slides it back into his pocket. “Ready to go?”

“For breakfast still?” You throw your hand over your heart dramatically, smiling wider when he grins. “A man after my heart.”

“I know better than to let you go hungry.” Will teases. “This is really for my safety, you see.”

“Mmm.” You nod. “Yeah, uh huh. Nothing to do at all with the pancakes voted best in Toronto only last month.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Will feigns innocence and opens the door to your Uber, ignoring his phone buzzing again. “I would never make a list ranking all those places in order of menu and aesthetic to try them all and see if they’re appropriately rated.”

You’re still cackling as he climbs in beside you, confirming the restaurant for the driver. “You are absurd.”

He shrugs. “You love me anyway.”

You fight back a smile and just shake your head at him, mostly to stop yourself from blurting out that yeah, you do.

Will’s phone starts buzzing again though, and then curiosity stops you from saying anything stupid. You watch as he barely glances at it before ignoring the call and then shoves it back in his jacket pocket and then he changes the subject so quickly you don’t even have time to ask him about it.

It keeps happening though, all throughout breakfast-Will’s phone buzzing with calls and texts and him ignoring it with subject changes or funny quips. You have your suspicions by the fifth or so time it rings, but you don’t get a chance to confirm them until Will gets up to go to the bathroom and leaves his phone behind. 

Brooke’s face has appeared on his screen three times by the time he comes back and it’s ringing again when sits back down. Once again, Will barely looks at it as he ignores the call, but this time you frown. “Do you need to go?”

“Nope.” He says, and you can hear the annoyance in his voice. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

“It doesn’t sound like someone else wants you here.” You say coolly.

“Well, she doesn’t want me to do a lot of things.” Will mutters.

“Then why are you with her?” It comes out before you can stop it and from the look on his face, the outburst surprises Will as much as it does you. “I didn’t-”

“No, go on.” He says and the silence that follows is the most awkward the two of you have ever sat through.

“I just don’t want you to be unhappy.” You say, finally. “If Brooke is who makes you happy, then great! It’s just- whenever you’re with her, you don’t seem like yourself.”

“I’m fine.” He smiles, but it doesn’t quite as bright as usual, and it feels like prime evidence that something isn’t right.

—--

It’s barely a few hours later when you hear the pounding on your door and you begrudgingly pause your twentieth rewatch of New Girl to go answer it.

“Hi?” You step back to let Will in. “Did we have plans again?”

“No.” Will shuts the door behind him. “I just-”

“Oh.” Your face falls. “Oh no. Brooke?”

“Yeah, but-”

You cut him off. “Aw, Will, I’m so sorry!” You loop your arms around him in a hug, which he quickly returns, squeezing tight. 

“You’re not.” He mutters into your hair.

“Well.” You fight back a smile into his shoulder. “I mean, I’m not sorry it wasn’t Brooke, but I am sorry it didn’t work out. I know how hard you’ve been trying.” You start to pull back, but he keeps his arm around you.

“She asked me to choose.” He says into your hair and you’re pretty sure you heard correctly, but still, you have to ask him to repeat it. “She asked me to choose. Her or you.”

“Oh.” You bite your lip and try to bury your face in his shoulder again. “Um, how-what did you-.”

Will lifts your chin up with his fingers, carefully looking you in the eye and stopping you from looking away. “There’s no choice, okay? I choose you.”

“What?” You breathe.

“I choose you.” Will repeats. “I choose you. I’ve been choosing you this whole time and I’ve been too dumb to see it. I’ll always choose you.”

“Will.” You breathe out, and for the first time, you actually see him look nervous. 

“And I hope, maybe, you’ll choose me too.” Will adds softly, so softly that if you weren’t as close as you are, you aren’t sure you would have heard him.

“Always.” You smile, and that’s all you get to say before Will kisses you.

[bookclub4m]

Episode 189 - Romantic Comedies & Humorous Romance

This episode we’re discussing the fiction genre of Romantic Comedies! We talk about the difference between “fun” and “funny,” crossover romance genres, cataloguing romance fiction, and more!

You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.

In this episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jam Edwards

Things We Read (or tried to…)

The House Witch by Delemhach

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston 

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Take Me Home by Lorelie Brown 

I Kissed a Girl by Jennet Alexander 

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

Other Media We Mentioned

When Harry Met Sally… (Wikipedia)

The Bear (Wikipedia)

Nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

The Martian (Wikipedia)

Golden Globes change comedy rules after controversial win for The Martian

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Beetlejuice (Wikipedia)

The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare

A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Judgment (video game)

Bridgertons Series by Julia Quinn

Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

A Very Merry Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan

Cats (2019 film) (Wikipedia)

Links, Articles, and Things

Episode 119: Regency Romance

What does a happily ever after look like? (romance novel covers)

Sensible Chuckle (Know Your Meme)

There Is Only One Bed (TV Tropes)

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!

Does the Dog Die?

20 Humorous Romance by BIPOC Authors

Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.

Courting Samira by Amal Awad

The Wildest Ride by Marcella Bell

A Proposal They Can't Refuse by Natalie Caña

Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn

Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole

You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria

Game On by Seressia Glass

Manhattan Dreaming by Anita Heiss

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson

Much Ado about Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin

Serena Singh Flips the Script by Sonya Lalli

The Stand-Up Groomsman by Jackie Lau

Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee 

The Secret to a Southern Wedding by Synithia Williams

Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne

Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu 

Give us feedback!

Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read!

Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email!

Join us again on Tuesday, February 20th we’ll be talking about our reading resolutions for 2024! 

Then on Tuesday, March 5th we’ll be discussing the genre of Dark Fantasy!

[teaandatale]

I posted 969 times in 2022

45 posts created (5%)

924 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@theawkwardterrier

@captainjimothycarter

@steggyfanevents

@agentsweetdreams

@lyrslair

I tagged 428 of my posts in 2022

#steggy - 88 posts

#peggy carter - 18 posts

#tessa virtue - 9 posts

#about me - 9 posts

#to read - 8 posts

#meme - 7 posts

#the most wonderful time of the year - 7 posts

#the wheel of time - 7 posts

#personal - 6 posts

#awesome art - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#like i said this is more of a test preview but i really like some of the ideas i came up with even if i didnt finish them to completion

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Last day of April check in @steggyfanevents​! I have not been able to complete my #steggyfanficchallenge like I expected but I did manage 4 bingos!

I didn’t realize how much I never got around to reading while fighting with my own writing muse, but I tried to really widen my reading and hope to continue it on. I also planned to leave comments on every fic, and a few of you are still owed some AO3 comments from me ASAP 😉

I have tried to tag everyone’s tumblr I could find below. If you haven’t been tagged and see your fic, feel free to let me know to tag you.

Less than 10k Words

Five Times Steve Did Not Realize Someone Was Trying To Pick Him Up (And One Time He Did) by @buckywiththegoodhair86​

Comments: A great use of the 5+1 fic trope, where the different situations are written with so much humor and pitch perfect voices.

Baby Fic

Build Ourselves Together by fluffernutter8 / @theawkwardterrier​

Comments: An incredibly thoughtful, warm, and fun Modern AU where Steve and Peggy have an odd meetcute that turns into a wonderful show of love and community.

 “Best Girl”

There is nothing for me but to love you by AnaRose

Comments: This may be an unfinished fic, but it doesn’t leave you on a cliff hanger, and provides a lovely chance for Steve & Peggy to get their dance.

Multichapter Fic

Stork Sweet Shoppe by CapandCarter

Comments: An incredibly fun AU where Peggy goes to visit her Aunt in Brooklyn for the summer and befriends Steve throughout their childhood and beyond.

Mutual Pining

A HUGE misunderstanding by @captainjimothycarter​

Comments: A lovely little one-shot where both Steve and Peggy are pining idiots

Post-Canon

The Competition by KorrohShipper

Comments: Steve and Peggy one up each for the significant days in their lives, because they got their second chance, and it’s worth living live to the fullest.

Published in 2021 or later

That Red Dress by @elzibub​

Comments: A lovely one-shot revisiting our favorite pub scene in CA:TFA

Skinny Steve

Lightning Strike by Brenda / @brendaonao3​

Comments: A Skinny Steve & Peggy meetcute that is both sweet and very fitting of their characters.

Letters

so I wait for you like a lonely house by @whilewewereyetsinners​

Comments: Tony Stark hatches a plan, Natasha is impressed by a 1940s SSR Agent, Howard writes a faithful (if perhaps poorly judged) letter, and a lovely Steggy reunion of course.

See the full post

40 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

#4

Return to Sender

Steggy Week 2022 – Day 3 (Tuesday): Headcanons and Meta

Headcanon: A stolen (with permission) but very beloved headcanon from @dorrinverrakai1, that at the end of Endgame, when Steve returns to Peggy, in his impatience to see her, she is most certainly just awake still in her robe and curlers.

Title: Return to Sender

Summary: Steve tried hard to be patient, to wait until an acceptable hour of the morning, one that could not be deemed inappropriate. But the sun was shining bright if only still beginning to rise, the birds busy with their morning songs, and though many human beings were fast asleep, Steve couldn’t bear to wait another minute to be reunited with Peggy.

READ IN FULL AT AO3

Sneaking around in the bushes is not exactly how he would ascribe his behavior on a pre-dawn Sunday morning, though if presented with the facts, it wouldn’t be far off.

It had taken a little time for him to get here, but now, with nearly a day to get his feet under him, finding the right place, he couldn’t wait any longer. Not this time. No longer.

No, this was specifically his plan, and for a former man-with-a-plan, he was putting off his well laid plans for nothing and no one.

40 notes - Posted July 26, 2022

#3

See the full post

43 notes - Posted July 30, 2022

#2

OMG DERRY GIRLS IS TOO GOOD. I AM ALL FOR SHOWS ENDING ON ITS OWN TERMS BUT CAN LISA MCGEE PLEASE GET ALL THE MONEY TO MAKE MORE SHOWS BECAUSE THIS SEASON IS FIRE AND I NEED MORE OF THIS JOYFUL NONSENSE IN MY LIFE

105 notes - Posted April 21, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

get yourself a woman who can do both

156 notes - Posted May 19, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[commenter2]

"Heartbeat" review

Episode 2 of Murder Drones

Not even 90 seconds in and we already get a HUGE pile of lore in N’s dream

The flashback takes place at the house seen the Murder Drone season 1 update video, explaining why Uzi would go there since N and the others worked for the guy there.

The reason the Murder Drones look like Workers Drones, is because they WERE previously worker drones until (in my theory) they were upgraded by the JCJ company as a cheap way of dealing with the Worker Drones on Uzi’s exoplanet.

Whoever owned N and the other drones didn’t like them (likely another small reason why the company would want to kill some stranded drones in a “Handsome Jack” kind of sense) but it seems like his daughter did, who even making them look more human to play with.

Woah was that programming or skilled that allowed N to handle those glasses. I say skills, as N does deserve some respect.

Looks like Glitch is taking a note from the RWBY series by having all the background characters be shadows XD.

Pre-Murder Drone V and J!

V and N had romantic feelings for each other before they got upgraded! N must subconsciously remembers this, which makes me wonder if V does as well somehow.

Tessa’s character seems important, especially later on in this review. Also though just a shadowy shape, I’m kind of getting Borderland’s Tiny Tina vibes from her appearance.

So there WAS a 4th Murder Drone assigned to J and the others. Not only that but she seems to like N.

How does a symbol break a mirror?

Knowing that they were owned by a child not only explains the bubble blower V uses, but also that cannon N used in the pilot that made that heart symbol when he tried firing it at V.

Happy, to shocked terror, to happy again. N is totally fine psychologically.

Wait how is one chain holding a dangerous robot like V?

I like how though he likes her, N isn’t scared to protect Uzi and stare V down.

I think V was a bit jealous when N petted Uzi, so she must truly remember her feelings for him deep down.

I’m honestly curious if the word Frank does translate into “LadderBot 5000�� in the Drone’s language.

Also how much time has passed since the events of the pilot episode. We saw the sun rise so it was at least a day, but still like they said that’s too much time to just start fixing a big security breach (and leave the remains of a deadly robot there).

“deadly monster hiding in dark” cliche

J’s still alive?!?! Wait a miWHAT IS THAT? Also we see a big change in the pilot as J’s torso was destroyed there.

And here is that Absolute Solver thing I was talking about earlier.

It’s a PTA meeting, yet I don’t see any other parents besides Uzi’s dad. Is it mandatory for the students to know what the parents of their classmates are like?

One of the funniest jokes in the series so far has to be seeing the robots try to understand the “prove you’re not a robot” test and seeing text on screen showing its driving them nuts to understand them XD XD XD

First Uzi can build a powerful rail gun capable of damaging Murder Drones and now she can make a device that can control other worker drones! How is she so talented? Was her mother a scientist drone? Also could that robot controlling device work on a Murder Drone? I hope that does come back in a future episode.

At first I thought it was a mix of being played for laughs and the idea of robots having trouble seeing holograms, but given what happens later, that bot was just an idiot.

Thad should consider downloading anime so he doesn’t fall off every time N does a landing XD.

N giving the guard a childish robot and then Immediately being forgiven is another one of the funniest jokes in the series so far. And the face he makes when he’s forgiven is adorable (heart)

Forget the “everything is cake” meme, introducing “everything is a hologram”!

“Teacher playing solitaire via personal screen” GOD DAMN 3 GOOD JOKES IN ONE EPISDODE XD

I do like that Khan is defending Uzi a bit, even if it does sound a bit selfish here and there.

That other purple hair drone (named Doll) is going to be a reoccurring character. I just know it.

“dumb blonde” cliché. Doll seems to sense the danger so she should stop her.

It’s the centipede creator form the season 1 trailer!

THAD! NOT AGAIN!

I wonder if Uzi ever showed N Chainsaw Man? :3

Remember that Cryosleep center, as I have a theory about that at the end of this review.

Thank god Thad is still alive. Hopefully him being in constant danger won’t be a running gag in the series. He really should consider my idea of uploading some anime like Uzi did!

Looks like Thad will be the one to host the prom episode and just like Uzi and N, I am excited for that episode!

So what I’m getting from that GLADOS rip off is that the Absolute Solver is some kind of back up AI within all Murder Drones that are tasked to repairing said MD if its damaged beyond repair. Though interesting, I was kind of hoping for something bigger for the first enemy which I will explain at the end of the review.

Also it seems like J killed Uzi’s mother, who might also had suffered from the same glitch Uzi is going through. There is a popular theory that Uzi’s mom was always a Murder Drone (especially considering something that happens later in the episode) but I personally think at the least she changed into a Muder Drone hybrid like what Uzi is going through and went into hiding. Good for a surprise twist later in the series.

That was a cool gun while it lasted.

I like how N has gone from a fallen angel to guardian angel.

Hopefully that thing is gone for good. I mean I saw the black orb float away but remember there was a second one seen earlier that came from a random hologram projector part.

“friends have a falling out due to a confusing/scary realization” cliche. At least if the season 1 trailer is any indication, this won’t last long.

A nice little father/daughter moment for Uzi and Khan, showing he is quickly changing since the pilot episode.

“Doll is a Murder Drone!” is what I said when I first saw this.

On a separate topic, did she use ferrokinesis on that door? Also in a world of robots, is ferrokinesis just telekinesis since nearly everything is made of metal?

She is also that new female drone from the beginning of the episode, and it seems like she has a crush on N or V (hard to tell) Whoever that was sadly for Doll, V (again) does seem to remember having feelings for N yet is acting all Tsundere (another annoying trope I hate) about it. Hopefully that ends soon.

Now I’ve stated in the past that I’m not usually a fan of love triangles but I wouldn’t mind the series having a love pentagon between Uzi, Thad, N, V, and Doll.

That episode was worth the wait, but I do have some things to comment about.

I wasn’t a big fan of finding out that Murder Drones have another system within them. It was cool but I’m hoping that after this, we start getting regular Murder Drones but unlike N and V, these Murder Drones each have a unique skill meant for dealing with threats. Some I’ve thought of are a drone with cannisters of nanite acid that can melt nearly anything, another that can drill underground, and other ideas similar to what you would see in a Megaman game or one similar to Dr. Nefarious from Ratchet & Clank. I also thought of a drone fitting for a Valentine’s Day themed episode, where she has siren like call that attracts all the male drones towards her and it so powerful that it even attracts N. This would force Uzi, N, and the mystery girl to put aside their difference to save him and Thad (and any other possible love interest).

I also see a future episode having a “Star Wars Clone Wars” plot where N (and likely V) try to find a way to remove their Absolute Solvers and go through robot Hell to do it safely.

This episode has also given me 2 additional theories on why the Murder Drones were sent to the exoplanet, one being that some humans just hated them that much. Near the end of the episode, we see that there were cryopods on the planet for humans to use. Though the ones we saw failed, I wonder if there are some still active somewhere on the exoplanet, like some kind that can survive apocalypse level events? Maybe Tessa is on that planet somewhere, and the JCJ corporation owner (who is her father) wants to find her but is scared the robots could harm her or prevent him from find her and is trying to kill them all first?

[enigmaincrimson]

Knowing Vanessa... Her first meeting with CYN would be through a security drone she possessed at the time...

While treated better than the workers, the Dreamer possessed drone was considered more of a centerpiece... Like someone might show off a rare luxury car. Expensive, powerful, and poorly utilized by the people that own it.

So yes, the security drone would have been dressed up for the party... Although her job would have been more along the lines of wrangling rowdy guests, maintaining the mansion, keeping the workers in line, and being Tessa's babysitter.

So... Because Security Drones have a tendency to react poorly to unauthorized strangers in their territory, Tessa probably introduced all the Worker Drones she adopted to this one first...

Admittedly, the security drone wasn't too happy with how her masters treat the workers... Not so much because she has to clean those messes up, but it's all a total waste of resources and listen to them go on about it all day.

Odds are that she might have tried to prevent things from escalating by proposing to CYN that they have their own little party in the back... Just them and Tessa.

Although, accounting that CYN really wanted to go to the real Gala, the whole... Getting in trouble thing would have happened while Vanessa was fetching party supplies from the back.

Still debating where things went for her from there... I know the other security drones would refuse to help... Because Morpheus, so... She would be kind of alone there.

Part of me wonders if she comes back with the party supplies and... It's just kind of... Like the place in fire meme?

[quetozcoatl]

For the fanfic game: B, F, and R!

Original ask meme here, feel free to send me a letter!

B: Any of your stories inspired by  personal experience?

One of my old RWBY fics is me angsting about my neurodivergency via the lens of Professor Ozpin. NGL, I'm considering deleting it, it's... embarassing, and not my best work.

On top of that, the backstory for one of my WoW OCs was based on, for lack of a better term, my daddy issues. It's a fucking cringe backstory and it just turned melodramatic and I'm so glad I reworked it.

But for a more light-hearted response, it's a fic I'd like to write. When I was young, one of my teeth was loose. I complained about it to my older brothers, and one of them responded with: "Oh, your new tooth is going to grow into a vampire tooth" ...or something along those lines. Knowing my younger self, she was terrified and probably cried.

I think it's a perfect concept for Klint and Barok van Zieks!

F: Share a snippet from one of  your favorite dialogue scenes  you've written and explain why  you're proud of it.

As much as I want to post a snippet from my roleplaying on WoW, I won't, because it will require a paragraph of lore-dumping, which I am prone to do at a moments notice, just read any of my AU fics.

I have a LOT of WIPs, and some of them do have dialogue I quite enjoy. However, one of them just takes the cake: it's from an AU inspired by Baldur's Gate 3 (a very good game!) and tried to work within the canon of Dungeons and Dragons. In it, Klint is a bard of eloquence, rather than a ranger. I decided to make Balmung his stuffed hell-hound that Mama van Zieks made for him and he cherishes deeply, and my favorite dialogue is Klint talking to that Balmung:

”What was I thinking, Balmung?!“ No one would hear him, he had wards specially installed to prevent that. In here, he was free to talk how loud he wanted to an inanimate object, and no one to judge him for it, either! “Acting like some sort of seductress, touching her with my bare hands!” He gives Balmung a squeeze. “I don't want to be a harlot, and, I must have frightened her terribly with these talons of mine.”

This too, which happens some lines later:

“Hells!” He snatches his head back in. “Can you believe this, Balmung?” The dog did not respond, on account of being just a stuffed animal.

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

First off, Guillermo del Toro. He is one of my idols and I look up to his storytelling a lot. I love that he does not sacrifice color to tell dark stories, and that his works have taught me to accept that I'll write what I want! Another one is Zack Morrison who writes and draws the webcomic Paranatural, which I have kept up with since high school. They made the swap to a blend of writing and art sometime in 2021, and the descriptiveness and cleverness of the writing has made my jaw drop.

Next, Another one is Eiichiro Oda. That man can casually reference something he wrote hundreds of chapters ago, and no matter how crazy things get, it feels perfectly plausible within the world of One Piece. But unfortunately it's come at a cost due to him being a mangaka, and I must stress the importance of taking care of yourself before anything else.

These two are well-known for their diverse cast of characters, and Zack Morrison does little, but effective things to make the characters stand out even more in the mixed setting and it's genius. However, an honorable mention to Andrew Hussie and Homestuck, for popularizing the concept of using limited things in text like numbers and cases to distinguish the characters.

Now, the next is sillier: Elizabeth Hoyt and Tessa Dare. Yes, they crank out regency romance novels but they know their niche, damn it! My first romance novel was Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt, and it's helped me really come to terms with the fact that what I read is not necessarily what I want. I love the fantasies romance novels bring, but the idea of actually BEING in a romance makes me want to run away screaming!

[kitewithfish]

Wednesday Reading Meme for Jan 18 2023

What I've Read Westerns: Making the Man in Fiction and Film - by Lee Clark Mitchell - This book was read for the Great Queer Supernatural Re-Watch section on Westerns and while I think it provided useful background on the pre-cinematic roots of the genre in novels and painting, I found that the analysis of filmed works was just fine.

There are times where Mitchell misinterprets a work to suit a contrasting reading of masculinity in two films - Hondo and Shane, for example. Hondo absolutely has a plot about a strange interloping male lead coming to a homestead and getting emotionally involved with an abandoned but still married woman and her son, before getting serious with her after her no-good husband dies - because the male lead kills him! Shane has an strange male interloper, but the move bends over backwards to make sure that the ranch wife and the interloper are never in the same shot alone, and the husband is a clearly heroic figure in his own right - plus the ending where Shane bids his farewell to their son rather than to the wife. Modern viewers would be justified in seeing a triad relationship than seeing infidelity. Mitchell also really ignores the racial dynamics of the genre and the fact that he's analyzing White American masculinity, not something more broad, plus he also doesn't really do audience reception of films at all. For all that I found Monsters in the Closet a bit prosaic in the analysis, it's miles better than this for providing context. But Westerns is from 1996, maybe the author has had a chance to get deeper into these topics since.

I read a BUNCH of fanfic that is just too short of the novel line to count as a novel for my reading purposes: A Man of Honor by astolat https://archiveofourown.org/works/44251276 36k - Regency AU, queer accepting AU of Jaime/Robb. It's actually massively fealty fic with some fun politicking, I adored this Tyrion. Cersei is Sir Not Appearing In This Fic, the monarchy and the battles are displaced to English Parliament, it's quite fun.

trust is a mobius strip by sinspiration https://archiveofourown.org/works/22394041 35k - Voltron: Legendary Defender, Shiro/Keith -this is just deeply charming example of non-sexual submission and kink in space. When aliens think you are dating, you might be dating. I don't even go here! I have not engaged in this fandom at all! All I know is that they have goofy space lions.

The Desert Storm by Blue_Sunshine 30K https://archiveofourown.org/works/18206480 - this is a truly massive series that is only technically finished because the author moved the second and ongoing portion of the series into a different series altogether. It's absolutely not shippy, it's very focused on Ben Nasaade, aka, Obi-Wan Kenobi from Luke's toddler years, getting magicked back to work with the Jedi in the years leading up to the Clone Wars. It's wonderful in terms of taking Jedi philosophy seriously and involves a lot of the Tatooine slave culture worldbuilding that fanon has put together from other sources (which I need to read). I inhaled the first five pieces of this and was so glad I had it downloaded to read when AO3 had it's maintenance shutdown last week. ruin 1/12/23 - holy fucking shit 16k fallout 1/12/23 oh my god 12k true colors 11223 10K in crisis 1/13/23 10k

What I'm Reading Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - SFF Book Club - Chugging right along! I feel like I am getting the fun vibe of this book in a way that I really wasn't the first time because, since I first tried to read this, I have actually read some recent YA fiction, so I am slightly more in tune with the tropes that they are pointedly subverting.

When A Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare - Audiobook, absurd and fun

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong) Vol. 4 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù with Faelicy (Translator) - moved out of hold so that I can read one section that is the basis for shipping two background characters. I might abandon this one after this section.

On Hold but not abandoned The World We Make by NK Jemisin (Great Cities 2) 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson - Slowly

What I'll Read Next The Uncle's Story, Witi Ihimaera The Good Lord Bird

Library books  Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys 

Owned and need to read: Frey Marske's A Restless Truth, and Susanna Clarke's Pirenesi California Bones, Raven Song by IA Ashcroft, Kraken's Sacrifice by Katee Robert, Even Though I Know the End by CL Polk, True Colors by Karen Traviss, At The Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard, Tamryn Eradani's Enchanting Encounters Books 2 and 3, Like Real People Do by EL Massey, Tom Stoppard, invention of love. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty, "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and Other Myths about Fatness by Aubrey Gordon, Alisha Rai Partners in Crime, the Right Swipe, Aphorisms of Kerishdar

[siffrin-enthusiast]

[Image ID: A physical pencil drawing of an unmasked Tessa from Murder Drones to the left and Ennard from FNAF Sister Location on the right. A recreation of Markiplier’s famous webcam in the “Is that the bite of 87?!” meme is directly above Tessa. A red circle and an arrow pointing to said red circle highlights the left side of Tessa’s face, a red arrow points to Tessa’s hand on the bottom right corner of the image, and above Ennard in tiny script is the words “so proud…” End ID.]

tried to keep this as spoiler free as possible 🫡

Murder drones ep 7 spoilers

Had this idea for a dumb meme but my lack of editing skills meant i had to draw it myself. Probably not the first to make the purple guy joke but DEFINITELY the worst one

[tessalovesozzy]

Am I doing this right?

[theydidntreallysaythat]

Kit: Weird flex but ok

Tessa: Odd gloat but understandable nonetheless

Jem: Peculiar boast but alas

[kagetatsumis]

ya lit meme -- nine quote [1/9]: will’s letter to tessa

“With hope at last, Will Herondale” 

[winter-spiders]

Domestic fluff HCs for SpiderShield or WinterSpider??

HELL YES. I love Domestic fluff BRO Imma do both bc I can't resist

For SpiderShield

After all the accords and everything, Steve met Peter during a team training day

They just kinda hit it off after that, always hanging out and Peter likes helping him catch up on memes

After a while, Peter just kind of moves into Steve's floor, but neither of them really notice.

Steve likes to wake up early and cook a big breakfast for both of them, and after they both go on a long run with each other

After a mission (long or short, it doesn't matter) Peter cooks a delicious meal for them both, and they end up cuddling on the couch afterwards.

They kiss, cuddle, and make love, but they don't really realize that they love each other. They've been dating for over 2 years, and are completely monogamous with each other.

When someone (most likely Sam or Bucky) asks how long they've been dating, they just look at each other and realize that they've been dating for so long but just didn't realize it.

They've been straight up having sex and sleeping in the same bed for almost 2 years and they never once sat down and ask the other what they are.

A month later Peter gets down on one knee and asks if he wants to marry him. Steve said yes. Peter takes Steve's last name because doesn't Peter & Steve Parker sound a bit dumb? Steve & Peter Rogers it is!

The wedding was paid for by Tony, he said he loves Peter too much to say no to "young love"

A few months after the wedding and honeymoon, they get 2 dogs that Peter found on patrol, Tessa and Dodger <3

For WinterSpider

So bucky and peter met in the common room after they both woke up from nightmares.

After just sitting with each other, Peter fell asleep, and Bucky tried putting him to bed

Peter, being sticky and all, wouldn't let Bucky go

"Peter, sweetheart, you have to let go" "You're safe, stay"

Cue Bucky crying because this sweet angel sees him as safe and he can't fathom how someone like him could ever feel safe to someone like Peter

They just kinda started sleeping in the same room after that, and they both didn't have as many nightmares after that.

Not long after, Peter asked if they could start dating, and Bucky said yes.

They love each other a lot, Bucky took him dancing every few weeks, and Peter took him out to Delmars for lunch too.

They had been dating for a few years until Bucky found out it's completely legal to marry another man.

Bucky ordered Chinese food and had a fortune cookie with "Will you marry me" inside. When Peter opened it he looked up and there Bucky was, down on one knee, with the prettiest ring Peter had ever seen

They get married and they hyphenate their names to Parker-Barnes

Every night, Bucky cooks them dinner and makes them both lunch, but Peter cooks the breakfast because Bucky doesn't get out of bed before 9am.

One day after one of Bucky's therapy sessions, he finds a cat, outside, Alpine is what he names him

So Peter and he take Alpine to the vet and all that, and while there, they meet a nice puppy, and they name her Tessa

two bi men with a dog and cat as their children

that's the end of the HCs bye

writing 'domestic fluff' is hard for me idk why